Dominick Tarsitano
A Hammonton-based company was issued two citations in a worksite accident on the Atlantic City Expressway that killed an employee nine months ago, BreakingAC has learned.
Dominick Tarsitano, 31, of Egg Harbor Township, was working for A & R Fence and Guiderail LLC when he was struck July 25, by a South State truck near eastbound milepost 36.6 in Winslow Township, Camden County.
The stake truck had its mounted-attenuator lowered while backing up to remove traffic cones on the closed shoulder, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration report.
A & R was issued a total of $9,930 in fines: $4,965 for each citation issued Jan. 20. The company has contested the citations.
The first citation accuses them of failing to furnish a place of employment "free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employee(s) in that employee(s) were exposed to struck by and crushing hazards."
A & R also "did not instruct each employee in the recognition and avoidance of unsafe conditions and the regulations applicable to his/her environment to control or eliminate any hazards or other exposure to illness or injury," according to the second citation.
Both are listed as "serious" violations, meaning "there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a condition which exists, or from one or more practices, means, methods, operations or processes which have been adopted or are in use."
It is one step below a "willful" violation.
In addition to a fine, citations also require the company to provide abatement documentation, showing that identified hazards have been corrected and that the workplace complies with safety regulations.
That would have been due Jan. 26 — six days after the citation was issued — but because it has been contested, that deadline is suspended until the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission or a higher court issues a final order or decision, according to OSHA rules.
Meanwhile, Tarsitano's family carries on his memory.
"They say time heals but it hasn’t gotten any easier," his sister, Maddie, told BreakingAC. "That phone call was one of the most heartbreaking phone calls I could have ever gotten."
She named her son, born after his uncle's death, Antonio Dominick, in honor of her brother, Dominick Antonio Tarsitano.
"He is so little and doesn’t know it yet, but he has definitely made the grieving process a little less painful an has saved me in more ways than one with the tragic passing of my brother," she said.
Maddie Tarsitano took her son, Antonio Dominick, to his uncle's favorite breakfast spot — JJ's Diner in Egg Harbor Township — last week. (Family provided)
